Luisa Nardini The University of Texas, Austin Liturgy as Historiography: Narrative and Evocative Values of some Eleventh-century Mass Propers  In an article of 990, Giles Constable stresses that in the Middle Ages …the environment created by art, architecture, and ceremony fostered a closeness, and at times identity, with history. People lived in the past in a very real sense, and the past, living in them, was constantly recreated in a way that made it part of everyday life. Scholars tend to rely so heavily on verbal sources that they underestimate the inluence of the senses in developing an awareness of history. Sight, smell, hearing, and touch were all enlisted in the task of reconstructing the past.  In his explanation of how the the bridges between ‘was,’ ‘is,’ and ‘will be’ were stronger in the Middle Ages than in any other times in European history, Constable, ater reviewing a number of passages from patristic to later medieval exegetical texts, analyzes a group of artworks from the eleventh and twelth centuries that “were de- signed not to deceive but to bring past and present together by using old styles for new uses”.  This essay will examine some medieval mass proper items in order to high- light how the singing of chants (intended as a combination of texts and melodies) may have been conceived to enhance the reconstruction of the past. In this speciic study the atention is focused on the ways in which reference to Christ is realized through a purposeful citation of scriptural texts and pre-composed melodies.  This essay is dedicated to the memory of Salvatore D’Elia whose insightful teaching and moving generosity irst inspired my curiosity toward monastic culture and “l’amour des letres”. I would also like to thank Alejandro Planchart and Sonia Seeman for their careful reading and advices.  Giles Constable, “A Living Past: The Historical Environment of the Middle Ages,” Harvard Li- brary Bulletin 1 (1990): 49–70, 49.  Ibidem, 49 and 61.